Darkstalkers X Street Fighter- Blood Throne # 1 (Lords of the Makai Part 1)

 By Mark Rodriguez

There has been a series of Darkstalkers X Street Fighter comics as of last year, and while they look like one-shots, they're all under the 'Lords of the Makai' banner. 

"Blood Throne" opens with Morrigan explaining that Earth realm and the world of Makai have traded parts of land. A huge chunk between Castle Aensland and Castle Dohma has been warped over to Earth, and likewise a big part of Chicago was sent to the Makai world. Portals continue to open as more denizens from Earth and other places invade the Makai world. Humans are getting killed left and right as they're not prepared to fight against the Makai creatures. Morrigan says they must stop it since it's such a waste of perfectly good flesh.

Morrigan further explains that the energy required to open such a large rift between realms have started to influence the dark desires of the regular humans, and in some cases turned them into monsters as well. We see a huge fight as Charlie, Cammy, Felicia, John Talbain and BB. Hood fight off the monsters and demons.

 

We see that Morrigan and Lilith are sitting on the thrones of Castle Aensland as she relays this to everyone. She has a map of Chicago and all the areas that can serve as strike zones. She will divide them into teams of strike agents and free agents. She proceeds to introduce the people from Earth realm. We have Cammy White, Charlie Nash, John Talbain, Felicia, Gill, BB Hood, the trio of Rose, Menat and Maggio and the Aqularre de Brujos which is a witch clan from Chicago. A demon serves up some hors d'oeuvres which Cammy grabs. Talbain mutters that she probably doesn't want to eat any of that, and she puts it back.

Morrigan introduces the people from Makai, Azamondi, the Duath warriors, Arzeakus, Bahlahl, Stregayaga, Staglin, Swinozo and Auroxas. The freelancers will work on their own, while the team players will partner up and protect the people of Chicago. Rose, Menat and Maggio will stay behind to help protect the castle. Rose agrees, Menat is disappointed she'll miss on the action while Maggio is relieved.

Morrigan tells Rose the first thing she will need from her is to assist her in the ritual to transfer the powers of the throne from her to her sister Lilith, which surprises her. Morrigan explains that Lilith is better suited to protect innocents, while she is better suited to cause destruction. All of her regal goodness will be bestowed upon Lilith, which will free her to do what is necessary to stop the carnage. 

Morrigan calls for two demons named Lucian and Mudo to bring out two wooden tables. Morrigan and Lilith lay down on either table and Rose, Menat and Maggio start the spell. Rose, Morrigan and Lilith recite the spell as one will be bound and one will be set free. The spell is done and Maggio tells Morrigan to take it easy. Morrigan, looking slightly more demonic, angrily smacks him away. She's more feral and directs her attention towards Talbain. She hits on him and Felicia punches her off. 

Morrigan dodges a second punch and says she now knows who's the 'top dog' in the relationship. Felicia goes for a slide kick and Morrigan jumps out of the way. The succubus says Felicia can't keep up with her, but she's sure that Talbain can. Felicia bouncess off Talbain's shoulders and launches herself towards Morrigan. Morrigan slams her into the ground and says she has real monsters to tend to. She tells Talbain to follow if he wishes to run with a real predator. Stregayaga, the Makai witch, tells Morrigan to leave. She walks out as the castle doors slam behind her.

Lilith finally wakes up and declares herself the queen, with her clothes turning into more regal. The demons cheer for the new Queen Lilith Aensland.

 

Lilith says the former queen has set a course to protect the citizens of Chicago, and they will follow that course. She says humans are not the only ones that need protection as there are several weaker citizens of the Makai that also need help. From now on the credo for the House of Aensland will be to protect the innocent and oppressed. The people cheer as she smiles (wickedly?). Their strongest enemies, Jedah Dohma and Demitri Maximov are either laying low or are lost, so now is the time for change. They will elevate those that stand with them and smite those that are against them, for those that are enemies of the people will also be considered enemies of the crown. The people cheer for the new queen and the House of Aensland.

Lilith says the old castle has been a dark reminder of the evils of the Makai, so she will change it into a symbol of hope rather then fear. With a snap of her fingers the castle is redesigned, how a shining light in the darkness. Morrigan watches from a distance and hisses.

Lilith invites the Lords of the Makai, which include the humans, to join her on the balcony. She thanks everyone for being heroes during this perilous time as they forge a new world. She tells everyone to go protect the people, make allies with those that can fight and bring back the ones that cannot. Talbain leaps off the balcony without a second thought. Charlie hesitates and Cammy says she'll take the stairs. Felicia pats Camm'y head and she also leaps off the balcony. Gill floats off. Cammy and Guile do a fist bump and head out.

As soon as everyone leaves, Lilith passes out. Lucian and Mudo catch her and say they can't let anyone see her like this. As everyone leaves the castle,  a member of the Chicago witches asks Stregayaga if she wants a side. She drives past them in a motorcycle with a side car. The female member of the Chicago crew says she likes her style. 

Lilith soon wakes up with a gasp. She says the worst has still not come to pass and it is coming. She can hear the whispers. One of the demons hands Lilith a drink to fortify her. Lilith thanks him but says she is fine. Lilith sits on her throne and Lucian and Mudo ask if she's alright. She tells them to hush up since she is listen. An invisible demonic creature is whispering to her.

 

Bonus Comic- 

Chun Li is reading this very comic as Guile walks in. She is angry that despite Street Fighter being in the title, they are nowhere in it. Guile asks how they're not being used since they have movies, games and plushies. Cammy walks in, looking all beat up, and saying the issue has been exhausting. Chun Li storms off saying she did a thousand leg squats for nothing.

Chun li swings back and says Blanka peed on the floor again and it's Cammy's turn to clean it up. She tells 'Scammy' to enjoy the rift and her 15 seconds of fame. She also points out that everyone is wearing the wrong costumes. The comic takes place during SF6 but everyone is still in their classic SF2 outfits. A little note blames the editor for the screw up. 

 

My Thoughts- 

With all the random one-shots dealing with the Street Fighters facing the members of Vortex, it's cool to get an actual on-going story. This one is mostly set-up and introduction to a lot of the characters. Since they're in the world of Makai, the only Street Fighters we see currently are Rose, Menat, Maggio, Cammy, Charlie and Gill. We'll see if they run into any others once they hit Chicago. For a super-duper deep cut, it looks Maggio is the brother of one of the Shadaloo Dolls, Aprile. Aprile appears in the Street Fighter 5 'Shadow Falls' story mode as a non-playable enemy. Maggio appeared in a Menat one-shot that I somehow missed and will have to track down.

So pretty much, there are chunks of Chicago appearing in the Makai world, and there are chunks of the Makai world in Chicago. To be honest though, I wonder if the average Chicagoan would notice the difference, and I say this as someone born in Chicago. I do hope Cammy and Charlie can take a break and grab some deep dish while they're there.

Of course, other than Morrigan becoming a possible liability, we also have Gill there as the wild card. Knowing him, he's most likely helping save the world so they can take it over afterwards. Either that or he also wants some of that deep dish. Something has to fuel that Resurrection ability of his.

The cliffhanger shows Lilith either speaking with or possibly under the influence of a mysterious demonic shadow thing that only she can see and hear. Earlier on, she gave off a bit of an evil smile despite talking about doing right and protecting the innocent and so forth. We'll have to see what that's about. 

This issue was the premise, I'm assuming next issue will have the action. We also have to see if Demitri and/or Jedah will get involved. 

I guess my only nitpick with the comic is the art is a little too overly-stylized for my liking. I'm guessing it's going to remain this way for the rest of the series for the sake of consistency. 

The bonus gag page was fun and it's funny seeing Chun Li act so out of character. Or maybe that's she acts when she's not in a video game or comic book. I wonder if there will be similar gags in the other books. 

 

By now several one-shots sharing the 'Lords of the Makai' label are out and I have collected them all as they came out, thanks to Alpha Comics. I'll be covering them now that I found some time to check them out.